low lying placenta - how low is low?

[eddy26]

good afternoon

i have a question and would appreciate your views. i had a 20 wk scan this morning was delighted to be told that all is well with the baby

the placenta however is 2 cms too low. neither the scanner nor the midwide seemed that worried and my initial reaction was to not worry either.

but then i googled it. and according to one site it is a potentially serious and life threatening issue.

so, my question is this. how low is low? is 2cms a bit low? quite low? or very low? it doesnt sound that low.... i would love to hear from anyone that has or has had a low lying placenta and whether you think it is anything to worry about.

thank you!

eddie

A placenta that is only 2cm too low will, in all likelihood have moved by 32 weeks as your uterus grows.

Grade IV placenta previa (sp?)(which i had) is the life threatening one. means the placenta is completely covered the cervical opening.

is the placenta touching or covering the internal os of the cervix? if it is , then it could be problematic and could result in some bleeding and you might need a c.section. if it is low and not touching, then there is every possibility as your uterus grows , the placenta will 'move' up and out of the way and won't present any issue

i am sure that if you were in a dangerous situtaion you would have been made fully aware

have you been asked back for a scan later on?

I think I had a slightly low placenta at that scan as well - they were not worried as the placenta tends to migrate upwards. If your MW is not concerned you shouldn't be either - and never ever google you will a;ways find out you are about to die

sagacity - ah. i see. there's a scale. should have kept googling. a little knowledge and all that. thank you!

lulumaam - no idea if it is touching the os of the cervix as we didnt inspect that so yes, i agree must be low risk. and yes, i have a scan in oct at 30 wks so hopefully it will have moved by then. and if not then no doubt they will have a good feel around to work out what is where.

thank you both for the speedy replies.

i am still smiling from the scan. it's my first ever 20 wk scan and it was brilliant so am going to ignore the placenta bit for now and keep smiling.

or as IAGTBF quite rightly says not have started googling in the first place...

really sounds like no cause for concern right now.. should you have any bleeding or any other worries, call your MW straight away x